a badge of peace for a region in turmoil the e.u. gets its nobel prize hundreds of protesters joined the voices saying it doesn't deserve the award. egypt's opposition calls for more protests across the country after rejecting a referendum on a new is a missed based constitution. and the ruling regime and the opposition in bahrain say they're ready to sit at the negotiating table many believe their divisions run too deep to end a twenty month uprising. costing live from moscow twenty four hours a day this is r.t.

the european union's three it presidents have received this year's nobel peace prize on behalf of the group it's been given to commend the e.u. for fostering peace not everyone agrees hundreds marched through the norwegian capital in protest peter one of the looks at why many believe the e.u. doesn't deserve the prize why the whole nobel institution may need to rethink. your little. one day eleven days they will not be deterred. by the content of their character. the one that can be probably would have become a glorious sunset natives however the nobel peace prize is only awarded to a living person this year's winner text search criteria especially when it comes to finances the announcement the european union was to pick up the twenty twelve gongs sparked heated debate has been described. particularly after the outrageous use

picked it up recently well to be frank inside the united states i don't think very many people pay attention to the nobel peace prize anymore large numbers of americans were stunned when yasser arafat received the nobel peace prize many years ago president obama was given a prize for reasons that no one understood see what's. done over the last twelve months to convince the nobel committee it's with the of such a prestigious award. it supported regime change in foreign countries and several member states indulged in violent crackdowns on demonstrators outraged by the failure of the government's. skeptics. to get devalues the whole concept of the peace prize what's really happening is that the european union is having its worst year ever but it's mates and the international community coming to it's a brit to have been awarded of the announcement to be made in the very week that

angela merkel went to athens but was greeted not just by tens of thousands of protesters but people dressed up in swastikas and giving it the salutes frankly i grew up in a europe that was divided from east to west but i'm now living in a europe that is divided from north to south and never at any point of the history of this union has there been more discord of rancor that we currently got among more moderate forces there are concerns the peace prize is being used as a political football i think this award basically does a lot to kind of discredit past people who've won this prize i mean it demonstrates a sort of heavy politicization of the use of this war and now it's been suggested that this year's winner of the peace prize picked it up more for not having done something as opposed to having food the peace around the globe it seems like they got the prize more because there hasn't been any war in europe for many. it's

rather than having done anything specific i think as long as civic institutions like the nobel prize continue to lose their legitimacy and their spirit through political favoritism and these prizes are always political but such a blatant and obvious political favoritism in maneuvering i think it actually takes something away and i think it's actually damaging leaves the whole institution of the prize facing the question whether the nobility is the drain on the nobel peter all of the party for the. press now or talk to john laughlin the from the institute of democracy and corporation thanks for joining us here on r t do you think the e.u. deserves this award. definitely not like the people you've interviewed i think it's a ridiculous it's a nonsense it's a piece of beautiful backscratching by the political class it's interesting to go into the reasons why i think and why other people think you people say the european union will created peace in europe but we all know that the european union was

created nine hundred ninety two it was based on european your economic. and increasingly since. all the second world war and you. know. people who were is that were originally supposed to be reconciled by the european you get it was between germany france britain the soviet union the united states and many other countries britain the united states and the soviet union never belong to the european community or to the european union and yet there has been peace in europe so whichever way you look at it this is a nonsensical judgment it's a. blatant historical sort of occasion and as your previous comment it's the fed it gives credit to the nobel prize itself so when you consider the protests and riots in the streets hundreds of arrests injuries it's not exactly a serene situation why has the nobel committee done this then. because they are like many institutions in hock to the sacred cows of political correctness they are

themselves members of what i call a stingel european political class even though of course norway itself is not part of the e.u. which by the way only makes the award even more ironic and unless the people that people like to talk beyond. the general of the council of europe it was all so that they had a committee these people are all european political class in europe the european union does not have political pluralism it has one effectively homogenous political class and the various parts of that single political class are awarding each other prizes for the purpose of keeping the whole show on the road or at least that's how they see it and the protesters in oslo that we've seen are also angry of a u. nation's foreign policy for example participating in nato is foreign wars it is not exactly promoting peace. it's one of the most disgusting aspects of this award

there has not been peace in europe for the last sixty years as famines are wrong the president of the european council said everybody knows that there was a war against yugoslavia in one thousand nine hundred nine in which european states e.u. member states participated very fully they attacked you can you can produce europe in their european states so one cannot say that there has been peace in europe since then in any case if we look further afield with syria the european union's policy the actual policy of the european union as an organization nevermind its member states has been in my view to fan the flames of the conflict in syria and not to act as a peace broker so there is literally no way which we could say that the european union as foster peace is the organization losing touch then. of course it is. it's a structure it is an interest group the european union is not a fill. it is an interest group. designed to serve the interests of europe's

single and watching us political klotz and there's no other way to look at it that it is a structure of which serves the interests of the people who belong to it that is to say the european. members of the european parliament and all the other people who work for them. and it is yes as you suggest in your question radically out of touch with ordinary people and not just with the people who demonstrate the youth unemployment figures in greece and spain and other countries are truly horrifying and in the name of the european ideology europe is not being put through some of the most difficult economic times it seems as one nine hundred thirty s. ok john laughlin from the institute of the markets and corporation thanks for those thoughts thank you. well it's also an unstable situation in the european market says italy's technocrat leader says his time in office will soon be up to a look at what's in store for the ailing eurozone seemingly no way out of the crisis. egypt's military has taken over the country's security and

assuming powers of arrest in the run up to the referendum thanks week's vote has been rejected by the opposition as our representative and the calls to stage mass nationwide protests getting louder president merci has tried to make some concessions but it doesn't ease the tension as journalist true reports now from cairo. this morning president mohamed morsi truck this is done the decision to increase tax burdens on the country is a sales tax on consumer goods and services this is seen to be quite popular for him in the face of much the sense the increased tax burdens were supposed to be part of i.m.f. loan international monetary fund four point eight billion dollars in the country's been trying to secure recently definitely reducing these tax burdens perhaps make it more popular among the street yesterday of course the national salvation front become a nation of opposition forces going in many of these protests in the city so they

completely reject the concept of referendum set to be next week and it calls for protests they say the constitution will only enforce a presidential dictatorship and then it's a. key social economic demands as well as being presented of the country. by islamist dominated constituent assembly to here in cairo really expecting big crowds on cheese day against the president. by a new coalition of islamic forces opposed the president on tuesday they said they want to have a million people on the streets in support of the president of course with the background of violence on wednesday between rival protest groups right here at the presidential palace which bloody scenes in the streets of cairo that she reasons we've now been told the president has also made a tree to step in and secure the nation in addition to giving powers to arrest citizens this has been much criticism from the protesters who feel that the

military will take heavy hand this comes up with. egypt hosni mubarak stepped down last last year which witnessed quite a heavy and bloody crackdown on protesters in the last train the transition period last night at the protest in front of the presidential palace protesting screens footage all. minute trees human rights violations towards protesters on the screens of the president the president on the walls of the presidential palace they said to remind people of what the military capable of right now the republican guard still have their tanks outside the policy directive twelve barriers which the protesters did manage to push through but it's still a sign maybe we'll see more tanks on the streets as a descent continues in the lead up to this controversial referendum. but one of egypt's main opposition leaders and the former head of the arab league says versus regime is failing to fulfill the nation's hopes for change or deal with its major

economic problems. the change that we want to people hoped for dealing with. the services. they should be and the rest of the. pertaining to the life objections have not really produced anything new fifty percent of the country lives in poverty the illiteracy the. unemployment the problems that have not been addressed until this moment this is the point that one many of us as citizens are liberals as nationalists that believe that we are losing time we should not have this stand still kind of policy we have to move on let us move together the vision of dividing the country dividing the people dividing the public opinion is not in our interest.

and artie's full interview with egyptian opposition leader a member series on there later today at eight hundred forty five g.m.t. . one country struggles with the outcome of its revolution another is still caught up in an uprising despite a glimmer of hope in the prospect of talks and brain deep divisions between your position and the ruling body could prove to be to overcome. a report shortly. for its own red law in israel fears that syria's chemical weapons could end up in the bitter enemies hands or that after the break. looters that takes your breath away few tourists travel to these parts no prepackaged comfort but the joy of the wild this guaranteed is gagne's a zoology professor he works in the u.s. and travels to these remote areas in washington every summer as he says he confines

untouched landscapes like this anywhere else in the world we're going off the list below sea line if i go wrong the wrong and surprise you will go straight to the water and so we did. one animal whose par you definitely wouldn't want to shake here is the brown bear you can literally spot a grizzly here by every small weaver. where the bears are fishing but they have a very concise well to be able to see that we have to keep an eye away down at him and the distance between them and us i told i could be dangerous so we're going just a shell but the record. and quiet we went but the wind was not on our side and the bear got away another local resident who hates his piece being disturbed here is the palace sea eagle it has a wingspan of two and a half meters it ness only here in russia far east because of the bundles of salmon

and seagulls which feed the giant bird in his studies if gainey focuses on birds so he took me to one of his favorite places here the island it has the biggest colony of seagulls in the region. the climb back up was tough but the prize was worth it. maybe for the wildlife here the lack of visitors is for the better but when you stand on top of phenomenal and like this you just can't help wanting to share the beauty.

home world news point that the western warnings are circling of a serious chemical weapons but they have by israel has another worry on its mind that the ostler could get into the hands of his beloved israel such arms being controlled by what it considers to be a terrorist group would be a red line well marcus public office editor of politics first magazine says these concerns are not groundless. there's a very strong possibility that these syrian militants could very well acquire chemical weapons which of course would be has shocking not just for syria but for the entire region it might be an inconvenient truth to many was western politicians but of course the islamists in syria who are largely representative of the militants they wouldn't hesitate to use them against syria's minorities and they certainly wouldn't hesitate to use them against israel so that very important to stop the glory of the constant flow of weapons and cash into

syria by us or to western states even to saudi arabia and qatar the israelis then not concerned that the syrian government would use chemical weapons against israel they are very concerned that the militants in syria would use them if they are quiet then it could be a pretext that the west issues in concert believe america to intervene in the syria they claimed in the run up to the iraq the reasons for going in iraq had weapons of mass destruction nothing was found intervene in libya colonel gadhafi forces we're told we're going to alter. our sons and thousands of libyan civilians there was never any evidence for that then once again yes there's a very realistic possibility that the militants in syria could acquire chemical weapons and of course who would be responsible for that it would be those countries around the world in particular in the region turkey saudi arabia gets are starting western countries that are doing absolutely everything they can at the moment to

weaken the syrian government. a court in bahrain has it jailed the daughter of a prominent opposition activist for one month for taking part in a demonstration it's on a car just a third conviction in the past six months with her father serving life for plotting against the ruling family the uprising in bahrain is beyond gang. almost two years now although the opposition and the regime say they're ready for dialogue. ports their divisions might been too deep for any lasting peace. subjects says his life was shattered his sits on a municipal council in bahrain and several months ago he was shot by police during a peaceful protest looking at his injuries his lucky to be alive part of an online what and i was with many of the protesters when we were faced by riot police they did not hesitate to shoot us directly to the head with the bullets the police are using are for hunting birds and animals i've been shot at over one hundred ninety

two hell it's scattered all over my body in the head face arms and legs the most dangerous ones are those inside my lungs. is just one of hundreds who have suffered in the anti-government protests that started around twenty months ago when revolution fever was sweeping the middle east and north africa the descent in bahrain differs little from that in nation swept by the arab spring but the stories never stop it is a belief in different areas against the regime against that dictatorship against the situation. one thousand five hundred prisoners. we have. every day we have a lot of. security forces surrounding the areas attacking the people like that in their houses given the outcome of the arab spring of evils bahrain's ruling elite is doing its best to stamp out revolt the government recently slapped

a ban on public gatherings bahrain's chief of police says it's not permanent but it is necessary we have introduced a temporary restriction on gatherings and protests and that is. one reason because lately we have seen that these gatherings and protests have been taking more violent. methods and one year we had over four hundred protests in bahrain that's more than one protest but big and we have tried to solve the problem however they didn't seem to be able to control protests and the gatherings despite the ban and the risk of arrest people are still gathering the hard core of the protest comes from poor neighborhoods as soon as we reached one remediate he encountered a small in peaceful anti-government so roundly that some are simple simple to estimate how many people are actually taking part that does not mean in bahrain fact is that these protesters are being supported by the local shia community which

make up to seventy percent of this country's population. the ruling elite are sunni muslims and this may look like a sectarian war but the authorities firmly reject their actions are religiously motivated there is a radical movement in the opposition party they are hardliners they want to see regime change they want to implement their own style of government they seek a secretary in theocracy and that is unacceptable saw because i feel out of desperation they know that they don't have the support of the rest of the population of bahrain they have turned to these violent means the protests are gathering momentum and allegations of torture in prisons are leading to serious international pressure being put on monarch so bahrain's rulers find themselves in a tough position they want dialogue with dissenters but the question is whether they will be satisfied with what the king has to offer lexi or ship ski r.t.

reporting from the kingdom of bahrain. and we are facing more stories few are website r.t. dot com moscow prepares to approve a list of americans accused of human rights violations. to washington's magnitsky bill accusing russians of the same more night. and also online how's this for a threat that apple's notorious new iphone maps are labeled life threatening australia for misleading travelers to phantom talents in the sporting outback. there's unrest on the markets after italy's technocrat prime minister mario monti announced his plans to leave before silvio berlusconi has thrown his hat into the ring again after he withdrew his party support for the government want to says he'll go after next year's budget is passed which could see an election in february much older than expected that's where the greek prime minister is trying to secure more support from germany's wealthy and conservative region a very early at greece's credit is

a greater profit out with another forty four billion euros greek attorney and georgia culture garson means real solutions to a long way off so most cause me to stone walling says listen. but unfortunately. it isn't easy to. control just that you go to example even to the. national military fund. but of course it's real easy for you to so such a. german taxpayers so. this simple you serious are usually more of more cell phone for people with. such. well is the e.u. pursuing the goal of united europe at the expense of individual nations that issue take center stage in the latest edition of people of l's cross-talk in just

a few minutes here on r.t. . of course the european union has to be based on subsidy or it's a principle which means that the decisions are made close as possible to the citizens on the other hand the only is an indication is that the case on sure thing is that the case let me finish or i go ahead yeah yeah of course about dontcha think that. in a case that a federal union existed with a federal strong budget that the sovereignty of the european citizens overall would be better than we have it now in that crisis we are all victims at the moment because we do not have a fully fledged clearly question is that people join to create something like the united states you know i mean they are going to join it to create a united states of europe. that it has to be discussed i'm sorry i was saying yes there is no alternative to that and if they don't want to be. bound to a federal union or european union or stay the united states of europe they can of

course leave or negotiate the treaties. now some other news making headlines this hour. assault on a police station in northwestern pakistan has left at least eight people dead three attackers reportedly fired rockets and grenades in a battle lasting more than an hour to insurgents detonated suicide vests during the clash local taliban say the attack was to avenge the death of a relative of the former commander. unearth quake measuring five point six on the richter scale as the philippines which is already trying to recover from the devastation brought on by a deadly typhoon thousand people still missing following last week's cycling survivors in the western areas are suffering severe food shortages landslides and flash floods killed more than six hundred people left one hundred thousand homeless . and this is the funeral of

a prominent official responsible for women's affairs has been assassinated on monday in afghanistan she was shot dead by two unidentified men while on her way to work comes just months after her predecessor also a woman was killed in the bomb attack. says it won't give an inch of palestinian land to israel during his visit to gaza groups political leader michele refused to recognize the jewish state that intimacy with israel rejecting international calls to end its settlement expansion the journalist gideon levy says the standoff between the two will continue. really. it doesn't seem to be. very troubled by the u.n. resolution and by the fact that these were all solo isolated there and also about the government is known as the united states continues to support and to becky's way. less big.

vote in the u.n. but steve israel feels that europe he's supporting basically supporting israel. and also the break has promised states cross-talk with stay with us. we've.

seen. too many speak our language. programs in documentaries in arabic in school here on all t.v. reporting from the world talks about seventy odd p. interviews intriguing stories are you. been trying

all te arabic to find out more visit our big teeth don't call. the world. science technology innovation all the latest m l m m's from around russia we've got the huge earth covered. and it contains. only. one. following welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle separate but equal more and more europeans are rethinking the pillars of the modern nation state there is wide agreement that the sovereignty of states must be respected but what about the growing issue of self-determination if a population wants to create their own state.